There are numerous adhesive tapes in the marketplace. One such tape is duct tape which is known for its high level of adhesive strength. Duct tape typically is relatively thin having a thickness in a range of 5 mils to 12 mils. Duct tape can be torn by hand; however, when unrolled it has a tendency to adhere to itself.
Presently, duct tapes are printed two ways. The first method is reverse printing which allows the duct tape to be self-wound such that no release liner is required. Another option is to use surface printing; however, the print quality is generally very poor and the ink adhesion to the tape is also very poor. Both of these methods also require an investment in print plates and typically require substantial minimum order quantities. The idea behind custom digital printing is to create a tape product that requires no or small minimum order quantities, has very short lead times (on demand printing) and has performance comparable to printed duct tapes that are in the market today. Also, there is no investment in print plates required.